28 Seconds: A House of Valentine Novella (9 page)

Tony and Al were back, moving to clean up the mess Cole had made. I watched them for a moment, mixed emotions raging through me. “But how could she without me knowing? I mean, the history, scientific stuff we talked about at dinner. I loved science and it was just conversation… something we had in common but to recognize them? It’s not as if I sat down at a table and she fed me drugs. ”

He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “That is something we’ll try and figure out.”

“And the money. My mom was working as a pharmacy tech with a GED. The money you guys are talking about was way, way out of her league.”

Cole hesitated, long enough for me to turn to look at him. But when he opened his mouth to reply, Tony was quick to cut him off.

“How do you two feel about dinner? Wine, music, my homemade red sauce?”

Al smiled. “Kristina would love to meet you.”

“His wife,” Cole provided. “She seven months pregnant and loves anything that gets her out of the house. Al has her going stir crazy.”

“Yeah,” he grinned, “locking her away like someone else I know.”

“Point taken,” Cole grumbled and glanced at me. “You up for company?”

I nodded, aggravated by the whole veiled attempt to steer me onto another subject. “One last night of freedom before my father arrives, hm? Can’t wait for that.”

Cole shot a quizzical glance to the men.

Tony nodded. “We just got word. He’ll touchdown around eight tomorrow morning.”

“How did you know that?”

I shrugged.

“Ariana.”

I huffed and pointed through the doorway where the access panel was in full view. “I saw them changing the alarm codes. You didn’t tell them to, I didn’t tell them to, so…”

“That only leaves your father.” Cole’s voice held an emotion I didn’t recognize and I glanced his way. The men were having some non-verbal sparring match and I sighed, taking a drink to try and ignore them.

“There is something else,” Al mumbled. His arm waved to the pile of shattered vials. “Her ability-”

But Cole was already nodding. “Is invaluable. I know. Get another six men on the perimeter and one on each door.”

“I’m going to the beach,” I announced to no one in particular.

“No-” Al started to protest.

“I’m going to the beach,” I repeated, pushing away from the table. “You do whatever you have to do.”

“Such a spitfire,” Tony chuckled.

I was already heading upstairs when the response finally came. It was cold, furious, and not the least bit amused.

“Call in another twelve.”

CHAPTER TEN

“How long have you been out here?”

“I’m sure you already know the answer to that.”

“Yes, I do,” he admitted. “You’ve sat out here through the rain storm, while the temperature dropped, and now you’re half frozen. Come inside.”

“I’m fine.”

“If you won’t worry for yourself then think about Charlie.”

“Who the hell is Charlie?”

“He’s the sniper sitting guard on the roof. Through the same rain and the same temperature drop because you are being too fucking childish to go inside.”

I stood up with as much grace I could manage and stalked past him. “Don’t you ever call me childish.”

He was at my heels, quiet steps that barely registered in my head. “Ariana-”

“No, there’s nothing I want to hear right now.”

“Your family-”

I whirled on him, nearly colliding with his chest. I looked up at him, my voice quiet. “Family? You mean my mother. The only person in my life. The woman I trusted so completely that I’ve followed her blindly from one town to the other. For what? Just so she could continue to use me as a fucking lab rat. My father. Who doesn’t even bother to talk to me on the phone after fifteen years, knowing that my mother, his wife, bled to death in my arms. And then there’s your precious house of Valentine. Who learns of my drug knowledge and then decides I’m some fucking commodity to be locked away. And you….you are the one who got angry and stormed off like a fucking child leaving me alone with strangers, in a strange house, in a strange city. Fuck you, Cole, fuck all of you.”

He stumbled as if I’d slapped him. “
That’s
what’s going through your head?”

“Not even half of it,” I murmured. I moved to the bed, curling my legs up and dropping my head against my knees. I tried to fight the trembles wracking through my body but between the cold, rain and emotional riptide, I didn’t have a chance. A blanket was tucked around my shoulders and then Cole’s weight beside me caused the bed to bounce.

“Then tell me the rest.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because the rest is just for me.”

“When I found you, you fell into my arms with complete and utter blind trust. And in one stupid, childish fit of anger I lost it all.” He leaned to me, kissing my forehead with a slow deliberateness. “I’m so very sorry, Ariana.”

He was leaving me. Leaving me alone, in the darkness, with absolutely nothing but my own terrorizing thoughts. “Please don’t leave me alone again.”

“I can have someone sit with you.”

“I don’t know any of these people. I know no one else on the whole damn planet.”

“Ariana, we’re both half drunk. I’m adrenaline fueled and you’re fragile…it’s just not a smart situation.”

“Cole,” I whispered, “please don’t make me beg.”

He was beside me before I took a breath, tugging me into his lap, pressing my head into his chest and wrapping me safely in his arms. I’m not sure how long it took but my tears eventually ran dry and the emotions raging in him finally calmed. In the quiet that followed, I became aware of how impossibly tight our bodies were pressed together. I felt something stir deep inside me and I shifted in his lap, reaching my hand to caress his chest. I followed the curves of his muscles, memorizing the way they rippled under his shirt, the way I could feel his nipples hardening with my touch.

I reached to his caress his face, expecting to see a reproach but, instead, his eyes were alive with a dark, smoldering intensity. His fingers drifted across my cheek, bringing my lips to his. Our kisses were slow, exploring each others mouths with an erotic jumble of both deep and shallow caresses.

His hands moved to my hips, lifting me and turning me to straddle him. It was only a tiny change in position but it changed everything. I could feel his cock hard against me and I let out a nervous breath. He tugged at my shirt and I lifted it off, casting it aside as his mouth began to suckle my breast. As his hands wrapped around my back, pulling me tighter into his mouth, I knew I was fast losing any chance to say no. I knew I needed to stop him, to tell him that I’d never been this far with anyone, but with his mouth on me, it seemed too embarrassing to even consider.

His fingers slipped to my underwear, following the seam down to the center of my sex. His fingers fought inside the fabric, barely brushing against me, and he withdrew them, already slick with my juices. He let out a satisfied chuckle and rolled me to my back. He was taking off his pants, slipping my underwear from my legs and I knew it was my last chance to tell him. But I couldn’t: the only thing more unbearable than the embarrassment would be if he stopped. I couldn’t bear the thought of his touches ever ending.

He rolled on a condom and was back over me, rubbing my clit before pushing his fingers inside me. I spread my legs, wanting more, and he continued to thrust until I could hear my juices echoing in the room with his every plunge. His mouth was back on mine, his breath heavy and ragged as his cock edged against my opening. He entered me slow with a long, luxurious stroke as if he was savoring his first moment inside me. I winced as he began to swell, filling and stretching me, but his own moan covered my discomfort. His hands locked over my head and he thrust again, deep and intense.

I let out the tiniest cry as my body tore open for him. Any hope I had that he wouldn’t notice washed away when his every movement stopped, even his breathing. His hands flew to my face, cupping it firm to keep me from looking away. “Ariana-”

“No,” I protested, “don’t you dare stop this time. Not now.”

“Look at me,” he growled. When I finally lifted my eyes to his, I realized...he had had no intention of stopping. He lips dropped to mine, a long drawn kiss full of heat and promise. I could feel him inside me, gentle short pulses that matched my own anxious breaths. One hand released my head and moved to cup my ass. I tensed involuntarily but his instructions were a tender caress against my throat. “Lift up, baby girl, it’ll hurt less.”

I let him lift me, tilting my body just slightly sideways and he was right...the sharpest of the pain went away. I tried to relax my body into his rhythm, the short, shallow pulses that had to be driving him mad. I closed my eyes, trying to memorize the feel of his cock, swollen and thick, pressing and filling every inch of me. Each tiny thrust stretched me to fit all of him as he seemed to grow even bigger inside me. His spasms came without warning, throbbing hard in my sex. He gave one last painful thrust, long and deep that he seemed unable to control and then locked himself there, deep within me, as he dropped his head onto the pillow beside mine. “Why,” he groaned, “didn’t you tell me?”

After several minutes of silence, he finally accepted that I wasn’t going to answer. He shifted, his hand slipping to the rim of the condom. “This is going to sting. Just let out a long, deep breath, all right?”

He kissed my forehead as I nodded and then did as told. I felt him pull out, felt the raw sting of air against my battered flesh but, most vivid, was an overwhelming sudden and inexplicable feeling of loss at the absence of him.

“I’ll be right back.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Hm, so you are one of those women that get overrun by emotions after sex,” Cole smiled and offered me a glass of whiskey. “I was going to offer wine but you don’t really seem the wine type.”

“Not my favorite, no.” I wiped my tears away and shuffled to sit against the headboard.

“Did I hurt you that much?”

“Discomfort, not pain, Cole. Pain has taken on a whole new meaning these last few days.”

He frowned and opened his mouth to respond but I stretched up and cut off his words with a slow, whiskey scented kiss. I gave him a half smile and tapped the covers for him to join me. He crawled over me, kissing my lips as he moved past, and tugged a tiny corner of the sheet over his bottom half.

“Suddenly shy?” I grinned.

“Trying not to entice you further. Your willpower is for shit,” he chuckled. “So, tell me what thoughts brought tears before my manhood is totally shot to hell.”

“I was just thinking of my mother actually. Wondering what her life was like in this family. She was just a child and yet she seemed to have a presence that made everyone stop and take notice. The loyalty that people had to her...it’s unfathomable to me.”

“You inspire it yourself, if you haven’t noticed. The men, they’re drawn to you. You bring this lightness to such a dark world that they can’t seem to ignore.”

“Like a fucking magnet,” I laughed.

“For their sakes, I hope not,” he murmured, kissing my neck.

“What about you?” I asked, sitting my glass down and turning to him. “Your thoughts seem to be somewhere else entirely as well.”

He nodded, his hand slipping down my cheek. “I warned you how dangerous this could be.”

“But I didn’t listen.”

He chuckled. “I’m not complaining about that part, I assure you. I just worry you don’t understand the consequences.”

“Is Cole Serrano, the reckless one, really lecturing me about consequences?”

“No, just feeling I have an unfair advantage.”

“Men,” I laughed, “usually do.”

“Ariana, your father will want to kill me for this, and in this life, this world, he certainly has that right.”

“I won’t let him.”

“Such a spitfire,” he chuckled. “You’ve not even met him.”

“Do you doubt I’ll protect you from my father?”

“I have no doubt you’ll try,” he murmured, his lips tracing down my bare shoulder.

“He took my mother when she was fourteen. I don’t really think he has a right to judge.”

“They were married.”

My voice rose several octaves. “They were married? At fourteen? Are you serious?”

“It was a different world...and one he still clings to. The idea of his long lost daughter having sex will be hard enough for him to accept. Finding out it was with me, his problem child, and I took your virtue as well? That may be too much for even Franco to forgive.”

“My virtue? Really?” I shook my head. “So medieval.”

He gave me a quick kiss behind my ear, his voice soft. “Well, some traditions are worth the wait.”

“You’re the problem child?”